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How Bank officials dish out loans illegally +Emeka Offor, Abike Dabiri’s Firms, Others Owe Banks N143.81bn

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Nigerian Deposit Money Banks on Monday continued with the policy of naming and shaming their delinquent debtors with further publication of the names of firms and their directors whose loans have become non-performing for more than one year.

While nine banks published the names of the loans defaulters on Monday, four banks released the lists of their chronic debtors, owing a total of N143.81bn, on Tuesday.

The four banks are First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Access Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc and Unity BankPlc.

Unity-Bank-logoaccess

The banks, which had published the list of their delinquent debtors on Monday were Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Union Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Heritage Bank Limited and Enterprise Bank Limited.

First Bank, which has its total amount of non-performing loans as N43.72bn, published 92 names of delinquent debtors.

The first five companies on the lender’s list owe a combined sum of N23bn. These are Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, Starcomm Plc; BGL Securities Limited, where a former Minister of Finance and National Planning, Kalu Idika Kalu, is a director; Shield Petroleum Limited and Fargo Petroleum and Gas Limited.

Shield Petroleum, the number one on the list, owes N6.883bn; while Zurich International Service, the last on the list, owes N26.69m.

Unity Bank also released 260 names of delinquent debtors with a combined NPL figure of N45.52bn.

The list has the companies of some prominent Nigerians. These include Umar Mutallab’s DeanShanger Project Limited, N3.6bn; Senator Ayodele Arise and a former Minister of State for Works, Mr. Dayo Adeyeye’s International Payment Devices Limited, N81.9m; and Prince Adeyanju Olateru-Olagbegi’s Cupid Investment BDC, N90.1m.

Other prominent companies on the list are Ekiti Kete Mass Transit, which owes N991m; Fargo Petroleum and Gas Limited, N2.5bn; Ava Cement Limited, N.8bn; and Plywood Chemical and Accessories, N1.1bn.

Ava Cement topped Unity Bank’s debtors’ list with N9.8bn, while Malcolm Akpokodje owes the least with N20m.

Access Bank Plc published a list of 11 delinquent debtors, with a combined NPL figure of approximately N3.4bn.

Top on the list are Bioka Ventures Limited, which owes N1.15bn, while Derukas International Limited was last on the list with a debt of N56.3m.

Diamond Bank Plc has N47.17bn as its total NPLs, with companies belonging to prominent Nigerians owing sizeable amounts.

These include Sir Emeka Offor’s Global ScanSystem Limited, which the bank says owes N181m; a former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on the Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa’s Thriller Eneavours, which owes N122m; and a former Delta State Commissioner for Sports Solomon Ogba’s Delta Mega Trend Limited, which owes N89m.

Aside the 13 banks which have published their debtor lists, other banks which will publish theirs this week are Ecobank Nigeria, First City Monument Bank Limited, Standard Chartered Bank, Keystone Bank Limited, United Bank for Africa Plc and Wema Bank Plc.

Investigations by our correspondents on Monday revealed that most of the banks had cut their list of delinquent debtors due to litigation with their customers over disputes arising from loan terms and last-minute renegotiations by some clients.

A top bank executive, who spoke to one of our correspondents under the condition of anonymity, said, “Some of the banks have to remove the list of some clients due to issues that border on litigation.

“Some names were removed at the last minute after the affected customers came to renegotiate with us. Some banks have had to cut the names on their debtors’ list by at least 50 per cent.”

Officials of banks, who spoke to our correspondents, linked the relatively high figure of the NPLs in some banks to inside connivance with customers, lingering margin loans and huge oil and gas-related loans.

According to them, customer relationship managers in some of the banks connived with the customers to obtain huge loans that eventually became bad.

They also said that long-standing margin loans in some banks were responsible for the high figure.

“A huge chunk of the loans are oil and gas related. The drop in oil prices has also worsened the situation for some oil and gas companies. They borrowed relatively large amounts of money, which later became bad loans,” an official of a tier-1 bank told our correspondent.

Meanwhile, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria will publish the list of its debtors early next week if they fail to regularise the terms of their loans with the agency.

The spokesperson for AMCON, Mr. Kayode Lambo, who confirmed this on Monday, said companies which failed to regularise the terms of their loans with the agency would have their names published.

“As many companies who have not been servicing their loans will have their names published,” he added.

The names of firms belonging to prominent Nigerians who have not been servicing their loans may appear on the list.

In 2009, the Federal Government spent about N5tn to buy the NPLs from banks to save them from imminent collapse.

AMCON, the government agency created after the 2009 banking crisis, was the special purpose vehicle used to acquire the NPLs from the banking sector.

The Central Bank of Nigeria had on April 22, 2015 directed the banks, discount houses and AMCON to publish the list of delinquent debtors from August 1.

They are to publish the names in at least three national newspapers on a quarterly basis.

In line with the directive, the banks gave the chronic debtors a three-month grace period, which expired on July 31.

The Director, Banking Supervision, CBN, Mrs. ‘Tokunbo Martins, had in a circular dated April 22, 2015, said, “In order to ensure that the industry NPL ratio does not exceed the prudential limit of five per cent and to improve the credit culture in the banking industry, banks and discount houses are directed to observe prudent credit underwriting and monitoring standards.”

The debtors are those whose accounts have been classified as lost and include persons, entities, directors, subsidiaries and other related parties, according to the central bank.

The central bank had stated that delinquent debtors in the category described above would be blacklisted and “banned from participating in the Nigerian foreign exchange market and in the Nigerian government securities market.”

The PUNCH had on March 15, 2015 reported that the volume of the NPLs in the Nigerian banking industry was set to rise further on the back of the devaluation of the naira amid weak global crude oil prices.

Global rating agency, Fitch Ratings, had in February, after the second round of devaluation of the naira, predicted that the banks’ non-performing loans would rise above the CBN’s five per cent limit by the end of this year, but below 10 per cent

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Why Nicholas Auto Solution Is The Leading Automotive Solution in South Africa ….Reasons To Patronise Them

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Why Nicholas Auto Solution Is The Leading Automotive Solution in South Africa

….Reasons To Patronize Them

Evan Esar said “Some men take good care of a car; others treat it like one of the family”. Interestingly, Nicholas Auto Solution is arguably the leading automotive solution in South Africa. Owned by HRH, Dennis Ainabel Iseghohimen, NAS as the company is known for excel as the haven of auto solution to all brands of vehicles.

As reflected in their mission statement which is to serve customers and always deliver the highest level of customer service; to develop their team and strive to constantly improve; and to conduct themselves  in an environmentally responsible manner, testimonies from customers affirm the fact that NAS is the best place to pamper your wonders on wheels.

Checks revealed that they provide excellence in motion with leading automotive solutions, and expertise in fast, affordable, and reliable auto services.

Why Nicholas Auto Solution Is The Leading Automotive Solution in South Africa
….Reasons To Patronise Them

According to Kailash Rabikissoon , “I highly recommend this company if you need your car serviced or repaired , the staff is very friendly and honest and they are well trained in what they do, i previously took my 335i to them for a service and I’m really impressed with their level of expertise and service”.

TK Komape commended their  Excellent customer  service.  “Clutch repair on the automatic Suzuki Dzire was  excellent. Car starter was also repaired and the car is 100%. They are professional and responsive. Recommended”

Elijah mc master “Wonderful Service treated me very well and assistance and hospitality is great.Definitely recommend this Car Service Company, Went for my Brake service and repair and am satisfied.Thank You So Much.

Services”

Shailin Naidu “Excellent service. Brought my Citroen C3 in with an overheating problem,went to multiple places and couldn’t find the cause. It’s finally sorted now”

Shakhin Dinna, “Perfect service, my car was repaired in time with excellent service from the employees”

Kaiyal Ramsamy, “Brought my citi golf in for an engine swap, pleased with the results. Thanks NAS and team”

Leigh Cooke, “Excellent service by NAS Team. Quick response, efficient repair and reasonable rates”

gloria kamana, “The service was amazing and quick

I was treated like a queen. I recommend you guys to try NAS”

Osaretin e “Dollar6ix” Asemota, “Job was perfect and service is excellent”

HRH Dennis Ainabel Iseghohimen is the Chief Executive Office of the popular Nicholas Auto Solutions in Johannesburg, South Africa. His accomplishment has made him excel amid his contemporaries.

The well-achieved engineer, HRH Dennis is also the founder of the broken wall foundation, where he caters for aged men and women in the society, in terms of welfare and shelter. However, In South Africa, he is also a strong supporter of Nelson Mandela’s foundation.

Over the years, His Royal Highness Dennis Iseghohimen has been putting smiles on the faces of people around through his foundation, the Repairer of Broken Wall Foundation, whose responsibility is to help those aged from the age of sixty and above in his community in Edo State, Nigeria. The foundation has been in the front runner to empower people with their challenges.

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ZENITH BANK REWARDS HACKATHON WINNERS WITH N77.5M CASH PRIZE AT ZENITH TECH FAIR 4.0

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ZENITH BANK REWARDS HACKATHON WINNERS WITH N77.5M CASH PRIZE AT ZENITH TECH FAIR 4.0

 

A total sum of N77.5 million in prize money was won at the end of a keenly contested hackathon session at the Fourth Edition of the Zenith Tech Fair, themed “Future Forward 4.0: Embedded Finance, Cybersecurity & Growth Imperatives – The Impact of AI “, which held on Thursday, November 21, 2024, at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The prize money was shared among ten finalists who emerged from the over 1,700 contestants that took part in the hackathon, with JumpnPass, a self-checkout technology solution reshaping the retail landscape in Africa emerging as the overall winner and taking home the grand prize of N25 million. This is in addition to a six-week mentorship and incubation program designed to help them grow and scale effectively, which will run from December 2024 to February 2025.

The first runner-up, CreditChek, a credit and verification service provider which leverages AI and open banking to streamline income and credit history verification for financial institutions, won N20 million and a mentorship programme, while the second runner-up, Salad Africa, a start-up which offers seamless integration of credit products for digital platforms and software companies won N15 million as well as a mentorship programme. Other finalists who took home N2.5million each include Regxta, CashAfrica, Middleman, Messenger, Pocketfood, Famasi Africa, Kitovu.

Earlier during the programme, the Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, Dame (Dr.) Adaora Umeoji, OON, in her welcome address expressed her appreciation to the Founder & Chairman, Dr Jim Ovia, CFR, for birthing the idea that led to the establishment of the Tech Fair initiative 5 years ago, she thanked him for his vision and foresight in utilizing technology to revolutionize the world of business and banking.

Commenting on the Hackathon, she said, “This prestigious annual event was created to empower and nurture young fertile minds. We hope to produce the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk from the Zenith Bank Hackathons in the nearest future. According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, 70% of Nigeria’s population are youths which is an economic asset when properly harnessed. This is part of the reason why Zenith Bank is hosting this event to support the development of technology startups. Their success not only fosters innovation and growth in Nigeria, but it also plays a vital role in creating employment opportunities for our youth.” She also stressed on the importance of innovation and embedded finance in ensuring strong and enduring institutions. According to her, “it is paramount that we adapt and adopt technology to stay ahead of the curve. We have seen various cases of companies that failed because of their lack of innovation. It is quite obvious that when companies fail to innovate; they can easily be displaced, so this is not the time to be orthodox, innovation should be a top priority for us.”

In his goodwill message, The Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu called for a global approach to doing business in the country. According to him, “What we need to do is to be able to enhance our product and services in order to compete in the world. We can’t continue to act local, we need to think global. Anything that we’re doing now, we need to be able to know that we are not just serving a local market, we actually want to serve the global market, and that’s why I’m glad that consistently, for the past four years, I have kept up with the Zenith Tech Fair. I am sure 5.0 should be bigger and better than what we have today, but for us as a government, what we need to do is to continue to use platforms like this to reassure you of our readiness to provide an enabling environment for your ideas and innovative solutions.”

Described as a huge success by participants, the Fair featured the launch of the bank’s digital wallet, EazyByZenith, which will help to support the bank’s retail and financial inclusion strategy. The fair also included presentations on the leading technological innovations that cut across different aspects of life, such as Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Risk Management, Compliance, Financial Intelligence, Cloud Computing and Communication Technologies, with the keynote address, “Banking Transformation in a Digital World”, delivered by Robin Speculand, a renowned Strategy & Digital Implementation Specialist.

The event also featured goodwill messages by Jim Ovia, CFR, Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank; His Excellency, Hon. Kashim Shettima, GCON, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (represented by Dr. Tope Fasua, Special Adviser to the Presidency on Economic Matters). Other eminent IT practitioners from top global brands who also made presentations include; Robin Speculand, renowned Strategy & Digital Implementation Specialist; Danilo McGarry, Global Expert on Digital Transformation and AI; Jania Okwechime, Partner, Africa, AI & Data Leader, Deloitte; Rupert Nicolay, Director, Microsoft Worldwide Financial Services.

The panel session had Wole Odeyele, Client Technology Lead for Microsoft Inc. as its host, and featured six discussants including Ada Jabaru, Founder & Director, Nistad Limited; Funke Opeke, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, MainOne; Guy Futi, Chief Executive Officer, Orda; Dr Auwal Adam Sa’ad, Founder, ZamzamPay; Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and Engr. Bisoye Coker-Odusote, Director General/Chief Executive Officer, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

The Zenith Bank startup pitch competition and incubation program seeks to identify and fast-track the growth of high-potential Nigerian startups innovating in key sectors, including Embedded Finance, Cybersecurity, Fintech, HealthTech, Agritech, E-commerce, and more. The program provides an ideal platform for startups to showcase their groundbreaking ideas and gain access to invaluable resources to scale their businesses.

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NEW BPP DG COMMITS TO EFFICIENCY AND STAFF WELFARE FOR IMPACTFUL SERVICE DELIVERY

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NEW BPP DG COMMITS TO EFFICIENCY AND STAFF WELFARE FOR IMPACTFUL SERVICE DELIVERY*

*_…begins review of bureau processes to enhance government procurement systems_*

The Director General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Dr Adebowale Adedokun, has outlined his vision to drive efficiency, enhance staff welfare, and reinforce the Bureau’s regulatory mandate in alignment with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s renewed hope mandate and his commitment to improving Nigeria’s economy. This was made known during an interactive session with staff of the Bureau at the State House Banquet Hall on November 20, 2024. Dr Adedokun emphasised the urgency of delivering results as well as improving trust in the government procurement system to support President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, declaring, “Let us work together to get value for money for Nigeria’s developmental processes and achieve President Tinubu’s mandate of making Nigeria’s economy better.”

Furthermore, in a bid to strengthen operational efficiency, the DG also announced key reforms, including introducing Service Level Agreements for the bureau’s processes ensuring that letters are treated within 3 (three) days, and ensuring reports are completed within 14 (fourteen) days. He also highlighted plans to secure a sustainable budget that would improve the working environment and provide better welfare for staff.

Dr Adedokun firmly stated the Bureau’s resolve to uphold its regulatory integrity under his watch. He warned that officers are prohibited from visiting Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) unless on official assignments stressing the need for officers of the Bureau to stay above board. He further declared that contractors are no longer allowed within the Bureau’s premises to ensure that officers can perform their duties without undue interference and influence.

Calling for a collaborative approach, the DG urged staff to embody the Bureau’s regulatory values by adhering to procurement guidelines, avoiding delays, and striving for excellence. “As a regulator, you must be seen to be guided by the procurement process,” he stated. He assured the team of an open-door policy, encouraging innovative ideas that could propel the Bureau to greater heights.

The session also featured a visit from former DG, Engr. Emeka Ezeh, OFR, FNSE, who led the Bureau from 2009 to 2016. Engr. Ezeh commended President Tinubu for appointing Dr Adedokun and urged staff to provide their full support to the new leadership. He encouraged staff to focus on leaving a legacy of excellence, saying, “Work in a way that you will be celebrated wherever you go in life.”

Senior Directors, including Engr. Nasir Bello and Engr. Isaiah Yesufu reiterated the importance of supporting the DG’s vision while emphasizing adherence to the Bureau’s operational guidelines. Staff also welcomed the session, sharing their perspectives on improving the Bureau’s operations and pledging their support for the new leadership.

In a related development, Dr Adedokun sought collaboration with the Presidential Office of Digital Engagement and Strategy (PODES) led by its Head, Mr O’tega Ogra, who is also the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital/New Media, during a courtesy visit to his office on November 21, 2024. The DG emphasized the need to enhance the Bureau’s public engagement and visibility in line with the all-of-government communications approach being espoused by the PODES.

Mr Ogra congratulated Dr Adedokun on his appointment and highlighted the key role BPP plays in advancing Nigeria’s development agenda. O’tega further expressed his commitment to collaborating with the Bureau in amplifying its communication efforts and ensuring Nigerians understand and appreciate its critical role in national governance.

Dr Adedokun’s leadership marks a new chapter for the Bureau of Public Procurement, focused on accountability, efficiency, and impactful service delivery. His vision aligns seamlessly with the Federal Government’s goals of economic transformation and sustainable development as well as President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda.

Janet McDickson
Director, Information & Public Relations/Head, Media-BPP

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